ODAC Newsletter - Feb 6

Welcome to the ODAC Newsletter, a weekly roundup from the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, the UK registered charity dedicated to raising awareness of peak oil.

The paradoxical state of the oil industry was brought into focus this week with the release of earnings reports from BP and Exxon. The results show that despite record profits last year, the major oil companies have been unable to increase oil production. Merrill Lynch released a report this week stating that that non-OPEC crude production may already have peaked, while some commentators conclude that global peak oil occurred last year. The overall economic situation however remains so dire that even steep cuts in production from OPEC have failed to raise prices.

In the UK this week, it was the weather that grabbed most of the headlines. The cold provided a backdrop for industry leaders to issue reminders about the precarious position of the nation’s power generation system. The National Grid released an interesting report this week which explores the potential for adding biogas from waste to supplement natural gas. For more on this see ODACs Reports and Resources page.

Britain’s weather problems look trivial compared to the extreme climatic conditions bringing drought to parts of Australia and China. The implications for global food production in the light of climate change and resource depletion including peak oil is the subject of the Chatham House report Food Futures also released this week. The connection between oil and the food system was highlighted as prices shot up last year. The future of UK and global farming is likely to be a battleground in coming years as the imperative to devise a sustainable food system sees corporate interests clash with advocates of organic and local models.

Resilience is a program of Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the world transition away from fossil fuels and build sustainable, resilient communities. Content on this site is subject to our fair use notice.